Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 25
25
1And יהוה spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה.
3‘Six years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit,
4but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to יהוה. Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard.
5‘Do not reap what grows of its own of your harvest, and do not gather the grapes of your unpruned vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
6‘And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, for you and your servant, and for your female servant and your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns with you,
7and for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land. All its crops are for food.
8‘And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9‘You shall then sound a shophar-sound on the tenth day of the seventh new moon, on Yom haKippurim#Day of the Coverings or Day of Atonement. cause a shophar#Animal horn - traditionally a ram’s horn. to sound through all your land.
10‘And you shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its inhabitants, it is a Yoḇel#See Explanatory Notes "Yoḇel" for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan.
11‘The fiftieth year is a Yoḇel to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from its unpruned vine.
12‘It is a Yoḇel, it is set-apart to you. Eat from the field its crops.
13‘In the Year of this Yoḇel let each one of you return to his possession.
14‘And when you sell whatever to your neighbour or buy from the hand of your neighbour, do not exploit one another.
15‘According to the number of years after the Yoḇel you buy from your neighbour, and according to the number of years of crops he sells to you.
16‘According to the greater number of years you increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you diminish its price, because he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
17‘And do not oppress one another, but you shall fear your Elohim. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
18‘And you shall do My laws and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And you shall dwell in the land in safety,
19‘and the land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell there in safety.
20‘And since you might say, “What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in our crops?”
21‘Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the crop for three years.
22‘And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until its crop comes in.
23‘And the land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are sojourners and settlers with Me.
24‘And provide for a redemption for the land, in all the land of your possession.
25‘When your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and his redeemer, a close relative comes to redeem it, then he shall redeem what his brother sold.
26‘And when the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
27then let him count the years since its sale, and return the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he shall return to his possession.
28‘And if his hand has not found enough to give back to him, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Yoḇel. And it shall be released in the Yoḇel, and he shall return to his possession.
29‘And when a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption shall be at the end of the year after it is sold. His right of redemption lasts a year.
30‘But if it is not redeemed within a complete year, then the house in the walled city shall be established beyond reclaim to the buyer of it, throughout his generations. It is not released in the Yoḇel.
31‘The houses of villages, however, which have no wall around them are reckoned as the field of the country. A right of redemption belongs to it, and they are released in the Yoḇel.
32‘As for the cities of the Lĕwites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Lĕwites have a right of redemption forever.
33‘And that which is redeemed from the Lĕwites, both the sale of a house and the city of his possession shall be released in the Year of Yoḇel, because the houses in the cities of the Lĕwites are their possession in the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
34‘But the field of the open land of their cities is not sold, for it is their everlasting possession.
35‘And when your brother becomes poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall strengthen him, and he shall live with you, like a stranger or a sojourner.
36‘Take no interest from him, or profit, but you shall fear your Elohim, and your brother shall live with you.
37‘Do not lend him your silver on interest, and do not lend him your food for profit.
38‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to give you the land of Kena‛an, to be your Elohim.
39‘And when your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, do not make him serve as a slave.
40‘But as a hired servant, as a settler he is with you, and serves you until the Year of Yoḇel.
41‘And then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own clan, even return to the possession of his fathers.
42‘For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, they are not sold as slaves.
43‘Do not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your Elohim.
44‘And your male and female slaves whom you have from the nations that are around you, from them you buy male and female slaves,
45and also from the sons of the strangers sojourning among you, from them you buy, and from their clans who are with you, which they shall bring forth in your land, and they shall be your property.
46‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession, they are your slaves for all time. But over your brothers, the children of Yisra’ĕl, you do not rule with harshness, one over another.
47‘Now when a sojourner or a settler with you becomes rich, and your brother with him becomes poor, and sells himself to the settler or sojourner with you, or to a member of the sojourner’s clan,
48after he has been sold, there is a right of redemption to him – one of his brothers does redeem him,
49or his uncle or his uncle’s son does redeem him, or anyone who is a close relative to him in his clan does redeem him, or if he is able, then he shall redeem himself.
50‘And he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Yoḇel; as the days of a hired servant it is with him.
51‘If there are yet many years, according to them he repays the price of his redemption, from the silver of his purchase.
52‘And if few years are left until the Year of Yoḇel, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he repays him the price of his redemption.
53‘He is with him as a yearly hired servant, and he does not rule with harshness over him before your eyes.
54‘And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Yoḇel, he and his children with him.
55‘Because the children of Yisra’ĕl are servants to Me, they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim.
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Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 25: TS2009
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Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbath Year
1The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2“Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘You will enter the land I am going to give you. When you do, you must honor the Lord every seventh year by not farming the land that year. 3For six years plant your fields. Trim the branches in your vineyards and gather your crops. 4But the seventh year must be a year of sabbath rest for the land. The land must rest during it. It is a sabbath year to honor the Lord. Do not plant your fields. Do not trim the branches in your vineyards. 5Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. The land must have a year of rest. 6Anything the land produces during the sabbath year will be food for you. It will be for you and your male and female servants. Your hired workers will eat it. So will people who live with you for a while. 7And so will your livestock and the wild animals that are in your land. Anything the land produces can be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8“ ‘Count off seven sabbath years. Count off seven times seven years. The seven sabbath years add up to a total of 49 years. 9The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when sin is paid for. On that day blow the trumpet all through your land. 10Set the 50th year apart. Announce freedom all over the land to everyone who lives there. The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Each of you must return to your own family property. And each of you must return to your own tribe. 11The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Do not plant anything. Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. 12It is a Year of Jubilee. It will be holy for you. Eat only what the fields produce.
13“ ‘In the Year of Jubilee all of you must return to your own property.
14“ ‘Suppose you sell land to any of your own people. Or you buy land from them. Then do not take advantage of each other. 15The price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last Year of Jubilee. Here is how the price you charge must be decided. It must be based on the number of years left for gathering crops before the next Year of Jubilee. 16When there are many years left, you must raise the price. When there are only a few years left, you must lower the price. That is because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops the land will produce. 17Do not take advantage of each other. Instead, have respect for your God. I am the Lord your God.
18“ ‘Follow my rules. Be careful to obey my laws. Then you will live safely in the land. 19The land will produce its fruit. You will eat as much as you want. And you will live there in safety. 20Suppose you say, “In the seventh year we will not plant anything or gather our crops. So what will we eat?” 21I will send you a great blessing in the sixth year. The land will produce enough for three years. 22While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat food from the old crop. You will continue to eat food from it until the crops from the ninth year are gathered.
23“ ‘The land must not be sold without a way of getting it back. That is because it belongs to me. You are only outsiders and strangers in my land. 24You must make sure that you can buy the land back. That applies to all the land that belongs to you.
25“ ‘Suppose one of your own people becomes poor. And suppose they have to sell some of their land. Then their nearest relative must come and buy back what they have sold. 26But suppose they do not have anyone to buy it back for them. And suppose things go well for them and they earn enough money to buy it back themselves. 27Then they must decide how much the crops have become worth since the time they sold the land. They must take that amount off the price the land was sold for. They must give the one selling it back to them the money that is left. Then they can go back to their own property. 28But suppose they have not earned enough money to pay them back. Then the buyer they sold the land to will keep it until the Year of Jubilee. At that time it will be returned to them. Then they can go back to their property.
29“ ‘Suppose someone sells a house in a city that has a wall around it. Then for a full year after they sell it they have the right to buy it back. 30But suppose they do not buy it back before the full year has passed. Then the house in the walled city will continue to belong to the buyer and the buyer’s children. It will not be returned to the seller in the Year of Jubilee. 31But houses in villages that do not have walls around them must be treated like property outside walled cities. Those houses can be bought back at any time. And they must be returned in the Year of Jubilee.
32“ ‘The Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them. 33So their property among the Israelites can be bought back. That applies to a house sold in any of their towns. Any house that is sold must be returned to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee. That is because the houses of the Levites will always belong to them. 34But the grasslands around their towns must never be sold. They will belong to them for all time to come.
35“ ‘Suppose any of your own people become poor. And suppose they can’t take care of themselves. Then help them just as you would help an outsider or a stranger. In that way, the poor can continue to live among you. 36Do not charge them interest of any kind. Instead, have respect for God. Then those who have become poor can continue to live among you. 37If you lend them money, you must not charge them interest. And you must not sell them food for more than it cost you. 38I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. I did it to give you the land of Canaan. I wanted to be your God.
39“ ‘Suppose any of your own people become poor. And suppose they sell themselves to you. Then do not make them work as slaves. 40You must treat them like hired workers. Or you must treat them like those living among you for a while. They must work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41Then they and their children must be set free. They will go back to their own tribes. They will go back to the property their people have always owned. 42The Israelites are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. So they must not be sold as slaves. 43Show them pity when you rule over them. Have respect for God.
44“ ‘You must get your male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. You can buy slaves from them. 45You can also buy as slaves some of the people living among you for a while. You can also buy members of their families born among you. They will become your property. 46You can leave them to your children as their share of your property. You can make them slaves for life. But when you rule over your own people, you must be kind to them.
47“ ‘Suppose an outsider living among you for a while becomes rich. Then suppose any of your own people become poor. Then they sell themselves to the outsider living among you. Or they sell themselves to a member of the outsider’s family. 48Then they keep the right to buy themselves back after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives can buy them back. 49An uncle or a cousin can buy them back after they have sold themselves. In fact, any relative in their tribe can do it. Or suppose things go well for them. Then they can buy themselves back. 50They and their buyer must count the number of years from the time of the sale up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their freedom must be based on the amount paid to a hired man for that number of years. 51Suppose there are many years until the Year of Jubilee. Then for their freedom they must pay a larger share of the price paid for them. 52But suppose there are only a few years left until the Year of Jubilee. Then they must count the number of years that are left. The payment for their freedom must be based on that number. 53They must be treated as workers hired from year to year. You must make sure that those they must work for are kind to them when they rule over them.
54“ ‘Suppose they are not bought back in any of those ways. Then they and their children must still be set free in the Year of Jubilee. 55That’s because the Israelites belong to me. They are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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